11 October 2017 Walking day 28: 25.5 kilometers Today started out the coolest so far, at about 5 degrees C (38 F). I decided to walk to Sarria from Triacastela via Samos. Samos is home to one of the oldest monasteries in the western world still operating, having been founded in the 6th century. And the alternative route via Samos from Triacastela to Sarria is mostly in the forest. I am walking alone today, as […]
10 October 2017 Walking Day 27: 21 kilometers Tuesday the 10th of October, finally a day that is written the same in the U.S. as the rest of the world, 10-10-2017 or 10/10/2017. All of the world writes the date dd/mm/yyyy while for some inexplicable reason, in the United States, we write mm/dd/yyyy. The international format makes more sense to me, as it is the smallest to the largest. Regardless, today it October 10, and […]
09 October 2017 Walking Day 26: 30 kilometers (many, many steep uphill steps) Today we left Villafranca del Bierzo and walked by a river along what used to be a main road, now replaced by a freeway higher up in the hills surrounding the valley. It was chilly in the river valley all morning, starting at about 8 C (42 F) with a bit of a wind blowing. A good morning to keep the layers […]
08 October 2017 Walking Day 25: 25.5 kilometers (many, many steps) We are now in the Bierzo Valley, between the mountains over which we walked as we passed Cruz de Ferro yesterday, and the mountains we will cross tomorrow as we climb up to O’Cebreiro. The Bierzo valley has a microclimate very well-suited for growing grapes, and as the Camino goes through the Bierzo valley, we see many, many vineyards. Today we were in vineyards […]
07 October 2017 Walking Day 24: 32 kilometers Note: No step count today. I believe my FitBit has died. It is no longer charging, and this will leave me unable to document the number of steps every day. I was hoping to see just how many steps I took on the Camino de Santiago, and was on track to record over a million steps on this walk. But, my FitBit is older and not up […]
06 October 2017 Walking day 23: 21 kilometers 27,676 steps Today we walked up hill, and while it was not steep, it was gradually up hill all of today’s walk from Astorga (elevation 850 meters, 2800 feet) to Rabanal del Camino (elevation 1160 meters, 3810 feet). Tomorrow we shall cross over the highest point on the Camino Frances, Alto Altar Mayor at elevation 1515 meters (4970 feet), a few kilometers after Cruz de Ferro at […]
05 October 2017 Walking day 22: 20.5 kilometers 29,727 steps I left Mercedes and Massimo, the caretakers of the charming little B&B Molino Galoches outside of Villavante at 8:00 this morning, just as Tom and Julie were walking by on the Camino path along the rail line. We walked to Astorga, a very historic city of 15,000 population with deep roots in Roman and Spanish history. During the Roman empire, Astorga was the capital of […]
04 October 2017 Walking Day 21: 23 Kilometers 30,737 steps Yesterday I took a rest day in León. I even rested from my blog. While a rest day from walking on the Camino de Santiago, it was not a complete rest day. León is a historically rich and significant city, and while its population is only 140,000, its stature is that of a much larger city. There is history, culture, and museums all around – the […]
02 October 2017 Walking Day 20: 18.5 Kilometers 24,920 steps We are having no complaints about the weather since I started walking in the autumn on the Camino de Santiago. Today was another very nice day, and a bit of a short walk at that, only 18.5 kilometers from Mansilla de las Mulas to León. For me this means a rest day tomorrow, and I am looking forward to not setting my alarm for tomorrow morning. […]
01 October 2017 Walking Day 19: 19 kilometers 24,177 steps Today was another mostly overcast day, protecting us from the sun, as we made the relatively short walk on the meseta of about 19 kilometers (12 miles) from the very small town of El Burgo Ranero to an older, larger town of Mansilla de las Mulas. In this case, “larger” means population 2400 compared to El Burgo Ranero’s population 800. Mansilla de las Mulas is […]
30 September 2017 Walking Day 18: 20 kilometers 27,275 steps The weather today was almost perfect for walking – very slightly cooler than yesterday, and expected to be cloudy almost all day. Sahagún is the halfway point on the Camino Frances. I met Jeff and Tracy from Minnesota at their hotel after breakfast. I told them that I had learned of an old church, now a museum close to where the Camino route from Madrid […]
29 September 2017 Walking Day 17: 22 kilometers 31,055 steps I am keeping count of my steps from where I start each day to where I am staying that night using a FitBit. A am not counting the steps I take walking around exploring the towns and socializing after I arrive at my destination. Yesterday, I passed 500,000 steps, one day shy of the half way point on the Camino Frances. Kurt Koontz wrote a […]
James the Intrepid Pilgrim 